Hot and tired after a long, long work day, time to sprinkle those rejuvenating, aromatic bubbles in the bath and soak your tired limbs. Envisioning this scenario itself takes away quite a bit of stress. But woebegone what if there comes a day when let alone soaking yourself in that healing water you won’t even have enough for a bath. Yes, my friends if we don’t tidy up our act real fast, that day is not far off. Conserving water is the need of the hour, for water dear people is the very essence of life. With no water around we would all die, and the scary part is that water is a finite resource.
There is only a limited amount of drinkable water on earth and this amount will never increase. So our biggest challenge is to make optimum use of this limited quantity of water and conserve it for our future needs. Although it is a staggering situation there are a lot of small steps one can take to improve the situation.
The kitchen is a major consumer of water in the house, accounting for almost 10% of the household’s water consumption what with cooking, washing,cleaning and drinking. Next comes the laundry and the bathroom. However all one needs is to be alert and take a few judicious steps and you’ll soon be pleasantly surprised when that water bill of yours goes a dipping. So friends, get set for here we go -
- Using running water to defrost frozen food items is sheer wastage, instead using the microwave for this purpose is a far better option.
- Washing fruits and vegetables in a pan of water rather than under the running tap will definitely make for quite a bit of saving.
- Collecting the water used for rinsing fruits and vegetables and reusing it to water your houseplants or even to flush off the toilets is a real effective way to cut down on water usage.
- Use of water efficient means for cooking -steaming, microwaving or using a pressure cooker will make a winner of you all the way. For not only will you be saving on water and power, but also preserving precious vitamins in the food.
- If your utensils are handwashed try not to wash them under running water, instead store the water in buckets or if you have 2 sinks fill one with wash water and the other with rinsing water.
- Most households today use a washing machine, thus it is imperative that one make a detailed study purchasing a machine which is water efficient. A lot of water can be saved if proper adjustments are made in the water level to suit the size of the washload.
- Try doing your washing when you have a full load and you could end up saving upto 10 litres of water in every wash.
- When brushing your teeth be careful to turn off the tap, you maybe able to conserve water to the tune of 25 gallons a month.
- Try taking shorter showers instead of lazing around in the bath, also when soaping up do turn off the shower.
- Toilets should be flushed only when required, do not use it as a trash can or ash tray. Check your toilet for noises when not in use, if so there could be a leak. Get it corrected at the earliest for even a small leak can greatly increase your water bill.
- Watering ones plants in the early mornings or evenings is a better idea for it is cooler and hence minimizes on evaporation.
If we try heeding these pointers and make them a part of our lives it will surely make for a better world all around and smile for your money power will also last longer!
